The Original Planned Endings For Popular Horror Movies

Horror movies love to mess with our minds, but sometimes the biggest twists happen behind the scenes.

Many iconic scary films had completely different endings planned before studios, test audiences, or directors themselves changed course.

Check out these original conclusions that would have left us with very different nightmares.

1. Get Out (2017)

Jordan Peele originally envisioned a gut-punch finale where Chris doesn’t escape his nightmare. When those flashing lights appeared, they belonged to actual police officers, not his friend Rod.

Chris would have ended up arrested and imprisoned for the murders at the Armitage estate.

Nobody would believe his wild story about body-snatching white families, making the social commentary even sharper and more devastating than the hopeful ending we got in theaters.

2. I Am Legend (2007)

Will Smith’s character was supposed to have a life-changing revelation instead of going out in a blaze of glory.

Neville would realize the infected Darkseekers weren’t mindless zombies but intelligent beings protecting their own.

After returning the captured female Darkseeker, he’d understand he was the real monster in their eyes.

3. Little Shop of Horrors (1986)

Frank Oz stayed faithful to the stage musical’s dark heart, filming an ending where Audrey II devours everyone and launches a full-scale plant invasion of Earth.

Skyscrapers would crumble as giant venus flytraps took over major cities in spectacular puppet destruction.

Test audiences absolutely hated watching beloved characters get eaten, so the studio demanded reshoots.

The theatrical cut gives Seymour and Audrey their happy ending, complete with a suburban dream house, though that original footage cost millions and remains legendary among musical theater fans.

4. Paranormal Activity (2007)

Katie’s original fate was way more disturbing than the jump-scare version most people saw. She’d return to the bedroom covered in blood, clutching a kitchen knife, completely silent and emotionless.

Her friend Amber would discover Micah’s body the next day, and when police arrived, the possessed Katie would snap back to normal consciousness.

Realizing what she’d done, the tragic conclusion would have hit harder than any demon roar ever could for audiences expecting found-footage scares.

5. The Shining (1980)

Stanley Kubrick actually released the film with a hospital epilogue scene that wrapped things up a bit too neatly.

Wendy and Danny would be visited by the hotel manager, who explained that nothing supernatural was ever found at the Overlook.

Kubrick hated how this scene deflated all the tension he’d built, so he literally cut the ending from prints after the first weekend.

6. A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984)

Wes Craven wanted Nancy to finally defeat Freddy Krueger for good, ending the nightmare once and for all. The movie would close with genuine hope and a sense of true victory over evil.

However, New Line Cinema had other plans for their breakout villain.

They insisted on adding that infamous convertible top scene where Freddy’s colors appear and Nancy’s mom gets dragged inside, keeping the door wide open for sequels that would turn the franchise into a cash machine.

7. The Mist (2007)

Frank Darabont initially committed to King’s ambiguous note of endurance, considering an ending where survival remained uncertain but hope lingered.

Early concepts toyed with keeping the monsters offscreen and leaving the road open. It would have honored ambiguity.

The released ending crushes hope with a brutal decision in the car, only for help to arrive moments later. It reframes the entire story as a tragedy of timing and despair.

You leave stunned, hollow.